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Preparing Iced Tea

Tea and Tea Etiquette

Ice dilutes tea, so to compensate for diminished flavor, twice as much tea is used for iced tea as for hot tea. A good ratio is to use 1 quart of boiling water or cold tap water to 4 teaspoons of loose-leaf tea, or 8 to 10 tea bags per teapot.

To make iced tea from boiling water, pour water over the leaves, cover them, infuse the brew for 5 minutes, stir, strain, and pour the beverage into a glass filled with ice cubes or crushed ice. Glass expands and contracts when subjected to hot and cold temperatures. To defray the heat brew the tea in hot water away from the glass, and place a metal spoon inside the glass before filling it with cold tea. Because iced tea made from boiling water is usually bitter, more often the cold-water method is preferred.

Iced tea is made indoors or outdoors. To make iced tea indoors, take cold tap water and infuse the tea leaves or tea bags for 6 hours or overnight. To make iced tea outdoors, infuse tea leaves or tea bags in cold tap water for 4 or 5 hours or more. Tea made this way keeps several days in the refrigerator and never clouds.